


What could have been

by GryffindorRavenclaw



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, Divorce, Don’t read if you haven’t watched the movie, Endgame Fix-It, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Probably not for Pepper lovers, Rating May Change
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-28
Updated: 2019-04-28
Packaged: 2020-02-08 17:31:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,821
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18627949
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GryffindorRavenclaw/pseuds/GryffindorRavenclaw
Summary: I don’t want to add the summary here because of spoilers so the summary is in the notes





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Tony is saved and now he has a decision to make. Does he go back to his wife or does he go after what he really wants now that he has a second chance?
> 
> Hello guys! I don’t know if you were like me and cried like a baby at the end of Endgame. This is how I’m dealing with it. I made my own ending. 
> 
> I don’t have a beta so please bare with me if you see mistakes and please point them out so I can fix them. 
> 
> This isn’t going to be very long. Just a few chapters I think so I hope you enjoy.

Tony just stared at Peter as he rambled off about what happened as soon as he “woke up”. Not being able to take it anymore, he slowly walked towards him and pulled him in for a hug. For the first time in five years, Tony felt complete. He gripped onto the younger boy like his life depended on it. When hearing Peter say, “Well, this is nice.” Tony couldn’t help but silently agree. He had spent so many sleepless nights thinking of that day in space. He had moved on because he had to, but he never forgot. He never forgot Peter stumbling into his arms and telling him that he didn’t want to go. Just the thought of it make Tony tear up even more and he clutched onto the boy burying his face into his hair. Well, man now, because regardless of the “sleep” that Peter said he fell into, he did look like he aged. 

It was to soon before they had to separate because of the battle going on around them. If Tony could have had it his way, he would never let go of the kid again. They just stood there and stared at each other for another second before they were pulled back into battle. 

The next thing he knew he was facing down Thanos. The man, or whatever the hell he is, was to strong and all he could focus on was getting the glove away from him. He couldn’t let Peter disappear again. He couldn’t live through it a second time. But he was so tired, and he was pretty sure that he wouldn’t survive this. If it meant though, that those that had disappeared would have a second chance at life, then it would be worth it. 

Grunting he finally got the stones away from Thanos and was about to slip it onto his own hand when webbing shot out. It wrapped around the glove and pulled it away from him. Thanos, just noticing that he didn’t have the stones any longer, lunged after it. It was quickly whipped away from him though and right into Peter’s hands. 

Peter, looking shocked that he actually got it away from Tony, looked around a little lost like he wasn’t sure what to do with it. Thor saw what was going on and called out to Peter. Peter must have realized that he was no match for Thanos alone because he threw the glove to Thor. Who was then quick to stuff his hand into the glove before anyone could stop him. Tony silently watched as the glove formed to Thor’s hand and seemed to burn into his skin. 

“It will kill you Thor!” Tony shouted out when he finally found his voice. 

Thor have a little smile, full of pain and sadness, and said, “Friend, I no longer have anything to live for. I would rather fall taking down an army than live a half life. It was great going into battle with you one last time. I hope you find what you are looking for.”

Directly after saying this, he snapped his fingers. It took a second, but before long everything around them came to a stand still, and the ships and army started to turn to dust. Thor, himself, fell to the ground shaking. Tony ran to the fallen man and kneeled by his side taking his hand. 

Thor was still alive but barely. He was slowly fading and staring past Tony’s shoulder into space. Just before he took his last breath, Tony could hear him mutter “Loki…”

Heartbroken, he tilted his head down until it rested on Thor’s chest. Thor’s very still chest. Noticing that little detail make his breath hitch. It should have been him. He had planned to sacrifice himself so everyone else could live but Thor beat him to it. He should be happy. Happy that he’s alive because this means he will be able to see Morgan grow up. Happy that he will finally be able to move on with his life and not be stuck in the past but…… He felt horrible and guilty that it was Thor that took his place. Tony knew that the man, like so many others, had struggled to move on after the death of his brother but it didn’t help matters. He just prayed that Thor was now reunited with Loki. 

Tony was jerked out of his thoughts when a hand landed on his shoulder and squeezed. Looking up he met the eyes of Peter. 

Suddenly very angry he wrenched away from the touch and stood. 

“What did you do that for, huh?” He snapped at the boy. “Well?” He asked as the silence stretched between them. 

Tony knew internally that Peter had saved his life but at the same time it was at the price of another.

For his part, Peter stood there in obvious shock open and closing his mouth like he didn’t know what to say. Finally, “I didn’t….I didn’t….I thought he would be fine.” He stuttered out. “He isn’t human, I thought he’d survive just fine.” 

Peter heaves a deep breath and continues, “I couldn’t let anything happen to you. I couldn’t….I’m sorry.” He stumbled away and Tony just watches him. 

He knew he was wrong. He knew that he should follow the boy and apologize but as soon as he took a step his path was blocked. 

Pepper stood in front of him with the visor up on her suit smiling. “Tony! I’m so glad you’re okay.”  
Throwing herself into his arms all he could do was catch her to steady them both. She was talking but all he could focus on was the slim figure in the distance walking away from him. 

~~~~~~~~

Time seemed to pass quickly after that. There was a funeral for both Natasha and Thor with thousands showing up to pay respects for the two heros. Word had spread pretty fast that the dusted (as they were being called now) would not have returned and stayed without their efforts. It was especially hard for Tony during Thor’s funeral. It didn’t help that his eyes kept drifting to Peter who sat in the back. The boy was obviously upset and not dealing with it to well if the bags under his eyes and the downtrodden expression had anything to say about it. Tony knew that he had to fix the situation, but before he could make it to the boys side after the funeral, he had disappeared into the massive crowd. There was nothing Tony could do at the moment so he just turned back and greeted a few people trying to get his attention. He would have to hunt down Peter later and apologize. 

As for the stones, Bruce said they had to be returned to their original timelines. So now, here he was with Bruce, Sam, Bucky and Steve preparing to use the time machine once again. It had been quickly decided that Steve would take the stones back to their correct timelines. The man seemed oddly eager to do so, so why not let him? Tony didn’t want to and no one else seemed very willing. 

He was standing off to the side behind the control panels watching Bucky and Steve say goodbye. It would literally be only five seconds for Bucky but he seemed oddly anxious like he didn’t think Steve would be coming back. This didn’t seem to deter Steve any though. 

The countdown started and Steve winked out of sight. Bucky let out a shuddered breath and seemed to steel himself as Bruce started slowly counting up. 

In the moment Bruce reaches five, Steve is back. Tony has never seen the steel armed supersoldier so vulnerable as now. Bucky looked shocked and amazed as he fell to his knees and buried his head in this hands crying . Steve also fell to his knees in front of him and wrapped his arms around the hunched over soldier. 

Tony couldn't hear what Steve said but he was able to make out Bucky. 

“I thought you would stay… with her” Tony wasn’t sure who Bucky was talking about but Steve seemed to because he looked surprised. 

“Of course I wouldn’t have. What in the world made you think that?”

“Well, you couldn’t stop talking about the fact that you seen her when you and Tony went back to the seventies. I thought you decided to take the stones back so you could be with her.”

“No Buck! No! I would never choose her over you. I did want to see her. I wanted to make sure she was okay which I didn’t have time to do the first time. This time, I was able to talk to her and explain why I couldn’t stay with her. I wanted her to move on and not focus on me anymore.”

“And why couldn’t you stay Steve?” Bucky asked as he looked up. There was so much hope in his eyes that Tony felt humbled by it. 

“Because I love you, you punk. To the end of the line, remember?”

Bucky slowly smiled, lighting up his entire face, before he said, “I love you too!”

He then grabbed onto the back of Steve’s neck and pulled him in until they were kissing. Steve wrapped his arms more firmly around Bucky drawing him in even further. 

At this point, Tony awkwardly turned away because he couldn’t watch them and not think about what he truly wanted. He wanted Peter and losing him five years ago just brought it home all the harder. 

Before Thanos and the space catastrophe, Tony had started to develop feelings for the boy but he denied them. He denied them because he was scared and he was also a little put off by the age difference. Peter was amazing. He could literally have anyone he wanted so why would he want someone Tony’s age? So he put off approaching him, and then he “proposed” to Pepper when Peter turned down the chance to be an avenger. After that, well he thought that maybe this was how things were supposed to go. He did love pepper but it wasn’t even close to how he felt for Peter. Now Pete was back and Tony was lost on what to do. He was now married with a daughter. 

Does he go back home and continue his sham of a marriage and only enjoy the fact that he gets to see his daughter everyday? Or does he take a chance and go after what he really wants? 

“Come on guys. We get it. You are in love and in a time where you can freely express that, but seriously, I don’t want to see Bucky stick his tongue down your throat Steve. There is only so much a guy can take.” Sam said jokingly. 

Turning back, Tony noticed that the two men had broken apart with Steve having a very pronounced blush and Bucky grinning like he’s the cat that got the canary. Tony was happy for them. He really was, but now he needed to go after what would make him happy. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony and Pepper have a talk.

Tony has yet to talk to Peter, not since the battle anyway, which took place close to two months ago. The boy was obviously avoiding him and Tony couldn’t fault him for it. He had been extremely out of line with what he said in the aftermath of the battle. Tony knew this, but now he had to find a way to fix it. 

In the meantime, Tony had a talk with Pepper. It had been a very difficult talk but it was a long time coming, at least for Tony. Settling back in his workshop, he thought of the conversation several weeks before. 

~three weeks ago-home~

Looking at the picture in the kitchen one last time, he made his decision. Now all he had to do was follow through with it. He messed up five years ago but keeping his mouth shut and he really didn’t want to do that again. Taking a deep breath he walked into the living room where Morgan was coloring and Pepper was reading. Looking to Morgan, he really didn’t want to have this conversation in front of her, so he knelt down beside her. 

“Morgan, would you mind taking that into your room so mommy and I can have a talk?”

She looked up and Tony focused on her big brown eyes, so much like his own and his mothers. He loved this little girl. This was the one good thing that came out of these last five years. She smiled at him and nodded. He helped her stand and gather up all of her crayons before she hugged him and skipped out of the room with her iron man coloring book in hand. 

Looking towards the couch, he noticed Pepper looking at him having put her book down. She actually looked a little annoyed. What does she have to be annoyed about? He hasn’t even said anything yet?

Pepper huffed, “What is it Tony?”

“Well, I felt that we needed to talk.” Tony said sarcastically. He hates how they snap at one another. It shouldn’t be this way. He was also getting tired of how controlling she I was. It was fine, when she was the CEO of his company, because she was in charge. That shouldn’t have rolled over into their relationship though. Tony knows he is at fault too because he let it happen. In the beginning, he was in a daze about the whole world losing half its occupants thing. Then, well, he just drifted through the five years and let everything happen to him. Now, he could finally see things clearly and knew that he wasn’t happy. He hasn’t been happy in a very long time. 

He must have paused to long because Pepper spoke up, “Again, what is it Tony? Are you going to put this family in danger and become an Avenger again?”

Tony couldn’t help but roll his eyes. She was always going on about that. He stood up and made his way to the chair closest to him and sat. “No, I wanted to talk about us.”

She looked surprised. “What about us?”

Tony closed his eyes for a second trying to prepare himself for the argument ahead when he said, “I don’t think this is working anymore”

“This? You mean US?”

“Yes”

“That’s all you have to say? After five years of marriage and a daughter? What about MORGAN? ARE YOU JUST GOING TO WALK OUT ON HER TOO?” As the questions continued her voice was rising until she was to the point of yelling by the end. 

“I’m not walking out on my daughter. If you think that, then you really don’t know me well at all.”

“Well, then, explain yourself because what you said just doesn’t cut it!” She snapped back. 

“This relationship just isn’t working anymore. You know it and I know it so why pretend that it’s such a big surprise? We aren’t who we used to be and a lot has changed.”

“So that is it? You want out without even trying?”

Tony growled, “Don’t you pin this just on me. You haven’t tried very hard either. Why do you think we still have separate bedrooms after a full year? We don’t see eye to eye on a lot of things and argue all the time. If anything, it would probably be better for Morgan that we do separate.”

“And how in the world is that? Will this make her think that relationships can work when her parents are no longer together?”

“No, but it’s better than her seeing us argue all the time. We both have a chance to move on and find someone else.”

“That’s it, isn’t it? You already found someone else and you just want out of this marriage so you can go stick your dick in someone else guilt free. We all know how you were before we got together.”

Pepper was clearly pissed by this point. But he honestly thought that was uncalled for. He hasn’t been like that in a very long time. And he would never go back to that now that he has a kid that looks up to him. 

“Low blow don’t you think?” He replied outwardly calm. He didn’t want to make this any worse by picking a fight. 

“I don’t see you denying that there is someone else…” Her voice shrilly rose until Tony just wanted to cover his ears. 

Having enough of this shit he finally caved and said, “because there is.”

She sucked in a sharp breath and glared at Tony for all he was worth before spitting out. “I always knew that you would get bored with me eventually and cheat.”

“I never cheated. I never would cheat on my partner. This is why we are having this very painful, in more ways than one, discussion now.” Tony slumped back onto the chair that he was sitting in and waited for her to respond. He didn’t really want to admit to her who it was. She would hopefully soon find out anyway. She looked upset but more mad than sad. This is what their marriage has come to. They were both always quick to lash out. She was probably wondering why he hasn’t yet. 

“So what did you have planned? Are you just going to drop us like we’re old news and run to this new person? I don’t deserve this Tony. I’ve been there for you so much over the years. I even ran your damn company!” She sounded somewhat tired now, like it was inevitable, which it kind of was. 

“I know you don’t Pep. I love you, and always will, but I haven’t loved you like I should have in a while….. and I think deep down you feel the same way.” He paused and took a deep breath this was harder than he thought it would be. He still cared deeply for this woman it just wasn’t enough. He thought of Peter. He thought of his smile and his dorky excitement over small things. He wasn’t jaded to the world like he and Pepper were. He also understood Tony’s need to be Ironman more than Pepper ever has. Hell, Tony doesn’t think she ever really tried. It was just Tony don’t do this or Tony don’t do that. She had never been happy with him ‘playing the hero’ like she calls it. 

“This gives us a chance Pep to find someone who we are meant to be with. We were great for a while and then we weren’t. We have just been playing along with the script. We should never have gotten engaged in the first place. It wasn’t like it wasn’t a spur of the moment decision anyway.”

She looked at him obviously considering what he said. He wasn’t wrong in their faults but he felt like they could do this amicably. They really needed to try for Morgan’s sake. 

“What about Morgan?” 

“I want to be in her life as much as possible. She is my little lady. I would like for you to keep this house if you want it. I will be moving back to New York City. The tower needs a lot of repair but it’s good enough for me at the moment. You can also have your own floor in the tower if you would like once it’s fixed up. Or you can say here and I come to see Morgan as much as I can. We can also arrange times where she can come stay with me.”

“You’ve given this a lot of thought.”

“This is all I’ve thought about these last few weeks.”

She sighed and scrubbed her hand down her face putting into focus her exhausted expression. It reminded Tony faintly of how she used to look at him when he did something stupid that she had to fix. “These last few weeks? So...I’m guessing that this other person was a dusted?”

“You would be correct.”

“Can you tell me who it is?”

“I would rather not until I have a chance to talk to them.”

“Okay Tony” she sighed again “you are doing all the work since you are the one ending things. This includes explaining to your daughter why you won’t be around all the time now because I’m sure as hell not.”

Tony groaned and fell back into the chair. 

~end~

Tony did end up explaining the best he could to a four year old that mommy and daddy would no longer be living together. He explained that she would now have two homes instead of one. She took it better than expected. She was also pretty excited when telling Tony what her new room should look like. So, Tony was now designing a room fit for a princess in his, about to be newly renovated, tower.

Tony was now, also in New York full time and the divorce papers have been submitted. These things usually take time but well, he’s Tony Stark. At this rate, he will be completely divorced in no time at all. They have also arranged it so they both have custody of Morgan. She will be alternating her time between living with Pepper and him. Things are likely to change of course, because he fully plans to bribe Pepper to come live at the tower at some point in the future, but he has to wait until she cools off some. At least now he knows not to buy her strawberries. In the meantime, he has already flown back to visit Morgan five times. She unfortunately can’t come stay with him for any length of time until the renovations are done. 

Also during this time, He has tried to contact Peter but has had no luck. Every time he calls the man it goes straight to voicemail after a couple rings. When he calls the house, May always answers and says that Peter can’t talk. 

He’s even tried to catch the boy alone when he was out and about but he would quickly disappear. Not to mention the fact that Tony was starting to feel like a stalker. The last time he saw Peter he was out with a group of friends that he had in high school. The dusted did age while they were ‘away’ not that Tony fully understood how that happened. But this now means that Peter is twenty-two. According to May, he was studying to get his GED along with his good friend Ned. But yes, as of right now he has had very little luck in regards to Peter Parker.

Tony had to come up with a way to get the boy alone but he wasn’t a genius, billionaire, once-playboy, philanthropist for nothing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story will probably have two more chapters. :-)

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading and constructive criticism is welcome.


End file.
